The decision to redo the vote came after a state lawyer informed board members their earlier vote appeared to violate Oregon public meetings law. The dentistry board had given no public notice of the vote, since it was not listed on the agenda announcing the meeting, said Lori Lindley, an assistant attorney general who advises board members.

Perhaps just as important in the board's decision to revisit the issue was the confusion that several board members expressed over what they had voted on when approving the change in July.

"We're still confused right now," said Matt Tripp, a board member and Grants Pass dental hygienist.

In the past, the public's best opportunity to find out about new and notable disciplinary cases by the board was by checking its public newsletter posted on the site.

But at last month's board meeting, new board member Todd Beck, a Portland dentist, made a motion to remove the names of the disciplined from both the newsletter and the public meeting minutes.

"All it does is pour salt in the wound," he said. "It's just mean, it's spiteful and it's fodder for gossip."

After dentists at the meeting expressed concern that publicity of dental violations hurts dentists' businesses and reputations, the board in July supported Beck in part. It voted only to remove the names from the newsletter, not from the meeting minutes -- which often don't describe the actual violations.

The public still can access individual dentists' disciplinary histories by looking them up on the website. However, the board's July vote marked a further departure from the practice of other agencies. Many state professional boards provide detailed quarterly enforcement updates, for instance.

After the July vote, former board president Norman Magnuson said board members behind the change "just want to make it harder to find out who has discipline against them."

Due to confusion over the rules governing motions, board members after the July meeting expressed confusion over what they had voted on and some weren't sure what position they took.